Upper Big Branch Miners Memorial

On April 5, 2010, an explosion rocked the tunnels 1,000 feet underground at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. In the aftermath, the scale of the tragedy came into focus: 29 deaths at the hands of preventable corporate safety violations.

Two years later, the Upper Big Branch Miners Memorial was dedicated in nearby Whitesville, West Virginia. The 48-foot long granite memorial shows silhouettes of the 29 victims of the disaster on one side and gives a history of Appalachian coal mining on the other. Nearby there is also a bronze plaque honoring the first responders who helped in the rescue and recovery after the disaster.